HUTCHINSON ISLAND – A Palm Beach County prosecutor cried for help and struggled in the water Sunday after getting attacked by a shark while surfing on Tiger Shores Beach.

Adam McMichael, of Boynton Beach, suffered deep cuts on his right forearm by an unknown species of shark and was taken to Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, witnesses said.

Late Sunday, the assistant state attorney was undergoing surgery to save tissue in his shoulder, said Michael Edmondson, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office. There was a sensation in his fingers indicating no immediate sign of paralysis, he said.

Several witnesses said they heard McMichael screaming for help from the water around 1 p.m.

Kaye Cross, a Massachusetts resident on vacation in Florida, looked in McMichael's direction from her spot on the beach and could see "big, long deep slices" on his arm and "a trail of blood."

"Nobody could quite process it at first," said Marni Sawyer, Cross' friend from New Hampshire.

As McMichael paddled back to shore, Cross and Sawyer estimated at least 10 people ran toward the water to help him.

Among that group was Jensen Beach resident Craig Price, who was enjoying a day at the beach with his family when he heard someone yell "Shark!"

One of the other people rushed to retrieve a medical kit, cleaned McMichael's wound and applied a tourniquet. Price and another person then elevated McMichael's arm to slow the flow of blood, Price said.

During the brief wait for Martin County Fire-Rescue workers to arrive, McMichael, who never lost consciousness, told Price he "just felt a tug" and never saw the shark. McMichael also said he thought he had lost his arm, Price said.

McMichael and his wife, Amber, an attorney based in Coral Springs, are avid surfers who often come to Stuart's beaches on weekends, McMichael told Price.